Russia OCTOBER 5, 2018 TheIndianEXPRESS An initiative by President visit report India, Russia enhance bilateral investment target to $50 billion ADVERTORIAL M E S S A G H.E. NIKOLAY KUDASHEV * E AMBASSADOR OF RUSSIA TO INDIA With the two countries meeting the $30-bn target for 2025 seven years ahead of schedule, a lot is expected from the India-Russia Annual Summit this week S URPASSING the $30-billion investment target seven years earlier than the set timeframe, India and Russia have now set a target of achieving $50-billion of two-way investment by the year 2025. India and Russia had agreed to hold the first-ever Annual Business Summit in early October this year. The summit, to be hosted by India, would involve major companies from both sides chalking out ways and deals to expedite bilateral trade and investment. India and Russia had originally set a target of $30 billion in two-way investment by 2025 but the target was achieved this year, seven years earlier than the set time frame. “In 2017 annual trade between India and Russia reached $10.17 billion. We discussed ways and means to increase this momentum, ensure balanced trade, and remove barriers to trade.Twoway investments have already crossed the $30 billion target, which we had set for 2025. We have therefore proposed that we enhance this figure to $50 billion by 2025,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS Summit 2018 Swaraj said after the meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific Technical and Cultural Cooperation recently. The commission met in the run-up to the 19th India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on October 4-5. Both sides are done with the preparations for the summit. India expects bilateral relations will further gain momentum after Russian President Vladimir Putin visits India on his twoday trip beginning October 4 during which he will be discussing major energy and trade-related issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the annual summit,the two countries are also expected to sign the contract for S-400 air defence systems, Ka-226T multi-role helicopters, frigates and assault rifles that India intends to purchase as part of its armed forces modernisation plan. Taking the level of co-operation to the next stage, Sushma Swaraj has said that both countries are considering jointly taking up projects in third countries as well. “We discussed the possibilities of working together on projects in a third country as a new dimension of our strategic partnership,” Swaraj added. To boost the two-flow of tourists, both countries are working on further liberalising visa regulations. Recently, the Russian government enabled electronic visas for Indian nationals visiting the Far East in Russia. The two countries have also started exploring new avenues to boost bilateral trade, which is modest in comparison to the Russia-China trade turnover that is going to breach the $100-billion level in 2018. Dear readers, Today, on October 5th, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi are holding the XIX Russian-Indian Summit. It is well known that our ties enjoy a long-standing and eventful history that we value and cherish. Mutual trust, respect, affinity and, of course, friendship have become a deeprooted tradition in both countries. Consideration for each other’s national interests and goals, proximity of foreign policy priorities, along with mutual affection between the peoples of Russia and India enable us to reach a consensus on almost all topical issues of the present day. Russia and India as global partners beneficially cooperate within various multinational platforms. Moscow and New Delhi share similar views on the need to prioritise implementation of the UN-based mechanisms and decisions, firmly uphold the basic principles of the UN Charter,and, above all, the sovereign equality of states and non-interference in their internal affairs.We are committed to the principles of indivisible security in all aspects, using collective methods to settle crises by political and diplomatic means and practising multilateralism. We highly evaluate cooperation with Indian friends within …Continued on page 3 ➤➤➤ WELCOMING H.E. VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION CHAIRMAN OF SUN GROUP, NAND KHEMKA, RECEIVING THE ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP FROM PRESIDENT PUTIN 1958-2018 VICE CHAIRMAN OF SUN GROUP, SHIV KHEMKA, WITH PRESIDENT PUTIN AT THE LAUNCH OF SKOLKOVO SCHOOL OF BUSINESS CELEBRATING 60 YEARS IN RUSSIA * ( READ. ENGAGE. DELIVER.) IS THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS TEAM OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS GROUP

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